A NEWCOMER'S FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF REST COTTAGE AND NATIONAL W.C.T.U. HEAD QUARTERS.

White Ribbon, Volume 24, Issue 285, 18 March 1919, Page 6

A NEWCOMER'S FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF REST COTTAGE AND NATIONAL W.C.T.U. HEAD QUARTERS.

Walking down Chic ago Avenuf in lh(* l Diversity < it \ of Evanston, between the rows ot shady elms, a unique sign catches our attention as it swings back and forth in the breeze: “National Woman's Christian Temperance Union.” Then as Rest Cottage and National W.C.T.I’. Headquarters eonie into view, and our steps turn up the path a< ross the velvety lawn, our first impression is: “Why this is like coming home.” And the impression still lingers utxm entering the place so sa< - red to the loving memory of Frances K. Willard.

Wrong ideas are easily lodged in the mind, and one generally prevalent is that the Rest Cottage and National W.C.T.U, Headquarters are one and the same.

Rest Cottage, where once lived Frances K. Willard, is now the home of our National President, Miss Anna A. Cordon. It is a cozy house with man\ gables. Adjoining to and connecting with Rest Cottage in such a way as to give one the idea that the two are one, is what is now known as Headquarters, once the home of Mrs Mary It.“ Willard, the widow of Frances K. Willard’s brother, Oliver. This the National W.C.T.I . purchased for National Headquarters. I pon entering National Headquarters, one is first shown into the large and comfortable reception room, with its piano and easy (hairs, which give the semblance of one’s own living room back home. Here also is found the telephone switchboard connecting sixteen busy workshops. Above on the second floor are the offices of the National Corresponding Secretary and the National Treasurer and their stenographers. Historic Rest Cottage lias its own entrance o|x*ning into a hall in the centre of the house. On the right is Miss Cordon’s office, never free from work. Hack of this is Miss Willard s dining-room, still arranged as our noble chieftain used it. Across the hall is the old Willard parlour the same as it always was, with the family furniture and pictures, ana those intimate things of family life w hi* h take us in memory back to

the days of long ago when Miss Willard was organising and leading our wonderful band of white-ribboners. The room in Rest C ottage*, which is most dear to u w ail, and the* one in which we* long to linger just to breathe the atmosphere of the place, which was once radiant with her perons.ility, is the* “Den’’ of Fnftrn I Wiliaiti —the s|x»t from which wert forth to the world tile inspiration and the plans and the guiding influence from which we to-dav are reaping the harvest. Yes, this was the home of our great leader, and it is the spirit of her life; still lingering about which welcomes one* as to the dear home far away. Hut Rest Cottage and the Headquarters or Administration Huilding of the National W.C.T.I’. are not all. In their rear, set in the midst of the spacious lawn, dotted with beautiful trees and shrubs, stands a handsome and commodious red brick huilding. with grey stone and white trimmings.

This is the Publishing House, and to one whose idea of this department of the National W.C.T.I’. has been formed from seeing a table of literature at the various Conventions, the revelation is tremendous. The entire first floor and basement are taken up by the publication department, with its business offices and stock room, where tons of literature are kept in eqx'n stock on shelves reaching from the floor to the ceiling, while nearly jooo feet of shelving in the basement are loaded with a reserve supply. It is inqmssiblc to conceive of the magnitude of the work until a visit U made to this huilding. The machine room, where the address labels are printed for the “I’nion Signal” and the “Young Crusader,” i> one* of special interest, and a plac e where no small amount of work is at c omplished. The second floor of the PublisM* - *- Huilding is occupied by the editorial rooms of the “Union Signal” and the “Young Crusader,” by the large circulation department, and by the Hureau of Publicity. Here also is the rest room with its kitchenette for the use of employees. Phis huilding is a veritable bee hive with its constant click of typewriters, the bum of the addressing machine, the scratch, scratch, scratch of the editorial pen, and the hundred and one noises of the shipping department.

And yet, although all are working so hard, no one seems to count her task as toil, but as a labour of love Here, too, the spirit of the home seems to pervade the thirty or more workers about Headquarters. It is the predominant characteristic in* every department, and the home tie seems to hind them one and all. Hut whs should not be so? Na tional Headquarters is the centre of our W.C.T.U. life, the home of our organisation, to which we all belong. Oh, what a comfort it is to know : fir-t, that we are not adriftin the world, but that we belong to something; and second, that we belong to an organisation which has for its aim the up lift of humanity and the redemption of ihe world. ANNA PRITCHARD GEORGE,

Director, Hureau Publicity, Nation a! Woman’s Christian Temperance

Union